Zerg-COM
by Summer Gambit
Summary: A new kind of alien has shown up on earth and their numbers are massive. Is X-COM's fight to take back the earth in the end in vain? Or did X-COM just got a very powerful ally?
1. Chapter 1

**Operation: Queen's Rise**

"A contact of the local resistance informed us about an ADVENT facility in this region. However, this facility doesn't seem to be part of the Avatar Project. According to our contact, ADVENT is experimenting on a new kind of weapon. Our contact will be waiting for you nearby the facility. She'll have further details on what to expect inside."

The screen inside the skyranger showed a woman wearing black boots, torn old fashioned military trousers and a black jacket with a bulletproof west thrown over it. She had red hair, which was tied up into a ponytail, her eyes were green and her lips a little big too big. The screen also showed her carrying a sniper rifle.

"I hope she knows how to use that." Max Krüger, the german Ranger stated as a matter of fact. He was the lowest ranking members of the current team, due to others being too injured or too dead to take on the mission.

"I doubt she doesn't." Jack Cameron, the scottish grenadier and also highest ranking member (sergeant) of the team. He was known for getting really excited, once a fight breaks out. He was also the only surviving member of the latest rescue mission, which only served to increase his hate towards the aliens. "Not just anyone can carry a sniper rifle."

"That's right." Merlinda Cawthon (american), aka X-Ray, agreed. She was the sniper on the team and the only reason she wasn't higher in the chain of command was due to her lack of combat experience, which tended to happen if you have the strange luck of always being targeted by ADVENT soldiers. She earned her nickname by somehow successfully taking an overwatch shot through a statue!

"I just wish this would be over already." Muttered Lisa Tempson, also american. She just had the worst of luck and held the questionable title of being the most injured soldier in the entirety of X-COM. Many people wondered why she hadn't called quits as of yet. She got half of her kill count through her trusty gremlin, who she spoke more to than to the others.

"I wonder what kind of weapon ADVENT is working on." Wondered X-Ray.

"Probably a face eating bacteria gun." Grinned Cameron.

"Joe made that joke first." Lisa stated as a matter of factly.

Before more could be said, the light's in the Skyranger turned red, indicating they arrived. Grabbing their weapons, Menace 1-5 waited for the back of the skyranger to open, until they could jump out. They dropped inside a jungle area on a hill from where they already had a good view on the facility. From their drop point it just looked like any other alien facility they had encountered so far.

"You're late."

Everyone raised their weapons and turned around, ready to shoot. The woman in return wasn't fazed at all at their reaction. After taking a second to look, Menace 1-5 recognized the woman from the video feed they had gotten only a short while ago.

"Careful, lady. I almost turned ya to switcher cheese." Jack grinned, lowering his heavy gun. The rest followed his example, although Lisa did it a little reluctantly. Something about the woman didn't sit well with her at all.

"Someone give her a communicator." Central's voice ordered them.

X-Ray grabbed inside her pocket and took out a communicator, handing it over to her fellow sniper. Without asking questions, the woman put the communicator inside her ear. As soon as she did this, they could hear the commander's voice.

"Menace, this is Sarah Kerrigan, our contact. Miss Kerrigan, your report was rather...lackluster to say the least. Would you be so kind to fill us in, as to what is going on?"

"Certainly." Kerrigan replied. "I don't know what exactly is going on here, but rumor has it that ADVENT is working on some kind of bio-weapon. There were strange sightings of oversized, insect like creatures, though personally I have never seen such a thing. Still, the fact that this facility is here, is reason enough to investigate in my opinion."

"...Indeed. I assume you want to partake in this mission."

"I owe my life to the people in the resistance. It's time for me to pay my debt." Kerrigan stated.

"Then welcome to X-COM miss Kerrigan. Menace, investigate the facility and keep the chatter down. Kerrigan, Cameron in front of you is in charge this mission. I hope you know how to follow orders."

"Understood." Kerrigan nodded towards the man in question.

"Alright guys." Jack whispered. "Krieger, go ahead. You're the fastest of us."

"My name is Krüger." Krüger muttered before running ahead towards a tree and taking cover behind it.

"All clear." Came the report from the Ranger.

"Right. Let's go and stay hidden. Tempson, you with me. X-Ray, Kerrigan, stay back and hold your fire until I or the commander say otherwise."

Lisa and Jack ran ahead, taking cover behind some rocks. X-Ray and Kerrigan stayed behind a little, each finding cover behind a tree for them.

"You better listen well, newbie. Jack doesn't like to explain things twice." X-Ray told Kerrigan.

"Keep the chatter down." Came Central's voice through their communicators. "We're picking up unknown signatures from the inside of the facility. The theory of the bio-weapon might not be as far fetched as it originally sounded."

"Understood Central." Jack said, before addressing the team. "Krieger, same as always. Stay hidden and tell us when there's something."

"I know you're doing this on purpose." Krüger replied, before running to the next cover, this being a rock. "I got overwatch on the door. I think I can hear them talking in their strange language."

"Got it. Tempson and I are coming to your position. X-Ray, Kerrigan, stay back. Take overwatch."

"Gotcha."

"Understood."

Lisa's Gremlin flew ahead, taking cover behind a street wall. The owner followed suit.

"I got eyes on an advent position." Came the report from the grenadier, who positioned himself next to a window. "One officer and two lancers."

"Great. I hate the lancers." Grumbled Tempson through the comms.

"Tempson, Krüger, get into position on the sides of the doors." The commander ordered. "Cawthon, Kerrigan, take position behind the trees on your right. I want you to have a good overview."

Everyone complied to the orders issued. Both snipers had to be careful with their footing. It was getting considerably harder to stand on the hill, given that it got more steeply on the right side.

"Contact!" Shouted Kerrigan raising her sniper rifle. She had just landed on a flanking position of three vipers! The snake ladies didn't waste any time crawling into cover. However one of them didn't make it, as a bullet went through her head.

X-Ray managed to readjust her path, to take cover in a way, she wouldn't be flanked by the vipers. Without really thinking, she drew her pistol and tried to get a shot on one of the vipers, but missed, hitting a tree instead.

Down at the facility entrance the team was about to turn around and help their allies. However the shots obviously must have gotten the attention of ADVENT inside and they came storming out of the facility. They were fairly surprised, when they found three X-COM soldiers pointing their weapons at them and shooting lead into their bodies. It resulted in three dead ADVENT and three XCOM soldiers being covered in yellow alien blood.

The vipers didn't even register the deaths of their teammates. They instead both leashed out with their tongues, trying to get hold of the humans. The one shooting towards X-Ray failed, but Kerrigan was easily pulled to the viper, who quickly proceeded to wrap the woman around her coils.

"Urrgh, need some...help…"

"Crap!" X-Ray shouted, as a plasma shot hit the tree, she was taking cover behind.

"We're on our way, hold out!" Jack shouted through the coms.

"ADVENT's here!" Max shouted, shooting with his shotgun at a Sectoid. He missed. In fact from the side a patrol of a sectoid and two troopers happened to come their way and they were now flanking the team of three down at the hill. The sectoid took the risk of shooting back, but missed the Ranger. The two troopers followed standard procedure by running into cover, giving Tempson, Krüger and Cameron to look for cover themselves.

"Damn it! I don't have time for you bastards!" Shouted Cameron, before he shot a grenade out of his launcher. The grenade perfectly killed one trooper and injured the leg of another one. The sectoid hissed in pain, as shrapnels entered its upper body.

"Damn, this is not good." Cawthon muttered, firing over and over with her pistol. From this close it was practically impossible for her to use her sniper. And so far the second viper prevented her from properly aiming at the one that had Kerrigan in her grasps. The sniper was always forced to either dug from the tongue or feared of getting shot every time she went out of the cover.

"Tempson! Tell your Gremlin to shock the Viper that is holding Kerrigan."

"Under- crap! -stood." While the Gremlin flew towards the viper, Tempson proceeded to shoot back on the remaining trooper. The Sectoid was trying to use one of its psi-abilities, but Krüger was faster to cut its head off.

"Got it!"

"Damn it!"

Even Kerrigan felt the shock going through her body. The good thing of course was that the viper finally let go of her. The human then proceeded to literally stick her rifle into the throat of the alien, before pulling the trigger. It was then that the redhead learned something: alien brains did not smell good. At all.

A shout from further down announced the death of the last ADVENT trooper. The remaining viper hissed annoyed, realizing it was now alone. Shooting one last shot, it quickly proceeded to fall back. This turned out to be her downfall, as she was shot by a laughing like a maniac, scottish guy with a grenade launcher.

"This is for Jenny, you bitch!" The Scott spat out on the corpse, before reloading his weapon.

"Are you alright?" X-Ray asked Kerrigan, who was breathing heavily.

"Just catching my breath. Give me a second." The woman replied.

"Menace 1-5 this is not over." Came Central's voice from the comms. "We register multiple X-Rays closing on your position."

"Wish he would deliver us good news every once in awhile." Krüger mutter, taking cover again.

The rest of the team followed suit.

"Okay guys. Reload and get ready to unleash hell on those alien bastards."

It didn't take long for the "alien bastards" to arrive at the scene and what they saw was a little concerning. The troop that came running cover to cover consisted of two Lancers, one Officer and two Heavy Mechs. The white robots were running on the front line and of course everyone shot at them, which didn't mean that everyone hit. In fact only Jack and Kerrigan managed to hit the Mech to the left, with Jack shredding the "breast armor" a little.

"Hit off the armor." Kerrigan shouted.

The left mech then proceeded to put Kerrigan under covering fire, while the right one got ready to shoot it's rockets.

"Tempson, Krüger! Fall back, NOW!" Both soldiers complied, running just as the mech shot its rockets from its back. However the officer was expecting this and firing at Krüger. Luckily his shots missed the Ranger, who took position behind a car, while the specialist had to cope with the street wall.

The two Lancers advanced further, trying to get into close range. One was shot down from X-Ray, before the lancer reached the next covering position.

"Grenade out!" Announced Cameron, before shooting. The resulting explosion destroyed the already damaged Mech and damaged the second one. Now no longer under covering fire, Kerrigan shot down the remaining Mechanized Unit, leaving only the lancer, who ran up to Jack with every intention of slicing him up. The ADVENT unit got caught into Lisa's overwatch fire before he arrived.

"Hahaha, now that's what I'm talking about!" Cameron shouted.

"Celebrate later, soldier!" Central chided. "Now go into the building before reinforcements show up. We'll keep you informed."

"Roger central." Cameron said, a smile still on his face.

Whether none of the soldiers send out a distress signal or no signal went through, but for some reason no enemy reinforcements were on their way. Menace 1-5 used the peace to properly position themselves in front of the door, before the specialist opened the door.

"Don't see anything." Announced the specialist.

"Send your gremlin inside." Ordered the commander. "I don't want to be taken by surprise. The rest of you, keep your eyes open. We register an ADVENT transport heading your way."

Lisa took out a small tablet, which sprung to life as soon as she pressed a button. It now showed what the cameras of the Gremlin were registering. The Gremlin then proceeded to fly inside.

"What are these?" Lisa wondered aloud. There were pots inside the facility, which sadly so far was nothing new. What was new was the shadowy shapes inside those pots.

"Now this is new." Central commented.

"They really do look like insects." Shen commented on the coms. "Guess the information about a new bio weapons are right."

"Intriguing, yet disturbing at the same time." Tygan commented. "Commander, I advice we take one of these pots with us, so we can further study the specimen."

"One thing after another. The reinforcements are going to be there in 40 seconds. Get ready." The commander told the team on the ground. Lisa put her tablet away and called back her Gremlin.

The squad took in position, as they heard the alien transporter coming closer. Only instead of dropping right next to them, like ADVENT usually did, the transporter hovered above the ground on the other side of the building, letting out the troops, before flying away.

"Looks like they're learning." The commander commented. "Stay where you're and take overwatch. Knowing them they will-"

"Commander! We register multiple unknown X-Rays approaching the site!" Central interrupted.

"What?"

"Damn it!"

"..."

"Central, how many are we talking about?" X-Ray asked.

"Let's just say, there are a lot of red dots on my screen, coming from the forest on the other side of the building. Evac is on the way. Fall back to the hills, before you get overrun."

"Understood, Commander." Cameron nodded out of habit, before addressing his squad. "Let's go, but keep an eye open for any A-A-A-A…"

His speech became a stutter, when all of the sudden the ground began to shake.

"Wh-what the h-h-hell?!" Tempson shouted.

"Earthquake?!" Kerrigan suggestion.

"Look!" Krüger pointed towards a place, where the earth was seemingly being pushed upwards. Not a second later a HUGE worm shot out from ground, letting out an unholy scream, before settling down, so only the head stuck out. The best way to describe the worm was that it just looked freaky and a little bit insect like. As if that wasn't enough, huge, double a dog sized, insects came out of the mouth.

"What the hell?" Shen breathed out.

"My Lord…" even Tygan was at a loss for words, as they watched the insects starting to attack the building. Despite their small teeth, they actually did damage on the building and since there were so many of them, it didn't take long for them to dig hole in the wall and rush inside. ADVENT shots could be heard inside the building.

"Commander, I suggest you send us evac, as long as those...things haven't spotted us." Kerrigan spoke through gritted teeth into her com.

"Firebrand is on the way. ETA 30 seconds. Stay hidden."

"Too late for that." Tempson stated, already pointing her weapon at a group of those dog-like (not really, but there was no better way to describe them) things. The rest of the team spun around, ready to fire. Another earthquake destroyed that plan. A second worm came out of the ground, pretty close to the X-COM squad, causing them all to fall over. Dirt was raining down on them, with the worm settling down. In a matter of moments Menace 1-5 was surrounded by bugs and everyone knew they would not be quick enough to pick up their weapons. In other words, they were screwed. The insectoids were watching them intently and all the humans could do was to wait to finally be killed. However, one woman had other plans.

Firebrand saw the predicament Menace 1-5 was in and decided to take action. She flew pretty low, with the back of the Skyranger open. The ship certainly got the attention of these new aliens. Firebrand used the opportunity and pressed five buttons, shooting five grappling hooks down to the humans. As soon as they grabbed the ropes, they were forcefully taken into the Skyranger. It resulted in all five of them landing on a very uncomfortable pile.

"Central, this is Firebrand. All X-COM officers secure, heading home now."

"Understood Firebrand. Good work out there."

"Thank you, sir."

 **XXXXX**

Shen, Tygan, Bradford and the Commander and everyone on the bridge watched intently the holographic screen, which received real time video footage from the Skyranger's cameras. It showed more and more of those aliens streaming out of the forest and ripping the facilities apart.

"This is insane." Shen muttered.

"Kind of reminds me of Starship Troopers." The Commander commented. "I'm not sure whether to celebrate that ADVENT's weapon program bites them back or to groan in dismay, because they just made everything worse." She spoke open minded.

"This is bad." Central crossed his arms. "Maybe we should evacuate the settlements in this region."

"If I may" Tygan spoke up "I have my doubts these...things are something the aliens created."

"What do you mean?" Shen asked, while everyone else turned towards the chief scientists.

"Well, for starters, the aliens normally control everyone under their command, mostly via their psionic implants. I highly doubt the Elders would allow something like this to happen."

"Are you sure? Just look at us." The chief engineer pointed across the room. "They aren't forcefully controlling every single human. At least not as of now." Shen added the last statement after a pause.

"So, what do you suggest? An old enemy, which somehow escaped their grasps and multiplied on our planet?" The Commander asked, shaking her own head. "They don't look like they can fly space ships."

"Maybe it's more aliens. Someone our "visitors" pissed off and are now striking back." Bradford suggested.

"Sorry, but none of your theories really seem sound." Shen commented. "I think I personally stick with weapon development gone wrong."

"You want to bet?" Bradford asked, half-serious.

"Wait a second. Look at this." The Commander pointed at the screen, where they saw a building collapsing and smoke covering the camera. As soon as it was gone, they could see a few remaining insect aliens retreating into the woods.

"They're leaving…" she said.

"But why?" Tygan stepped up.

"I don't know, but this may give us the opportunity we need. Something on the scanners?" The Commander asked an officer sitting in front of a screen.

"Signatures of these bugs, but they are all heading away from the facility."

"Any idea where?" Bradford asked the man.

"Not yet sir, they haven't stopped moving. What I can say is that they're nowhere near the resistance outpost and also pretty far away from any of the ADVENT cities."

"Keep an eye on them. Menace 1-5, the enemy has retreated. Get down there and see if you can get one of those things, be it a corpse or one of the pots. Move fast, before ADVENT makes his move."

 **XXXXX**

 _After Action report:_

 _ **Mission Complete**_

 _Operation Queen's Rise  
Investigate Alien Facility_

 _Enemies killed: 12_

 _Soldiers wounded: 1_

 _Soldiers dead: 0_

 _Rating: Excellent_

 _Squaddie Max Krüger: Kills: 5; promotion to Corporal_

 _Sergeant Jack Cameron: Kills: 13; promotion to Captain_

 _Corporal Merlinda "X-RAY" Cawthon ; Kills: 12; promotion to Seargeant_

 _Corporal Lisa "SHOCKER" Tempson; Kills: 7_

 _Sarah Kerrigan; Kills: 1_

 _Items recovered:_

 _Alien Stasis* (1)_

 _Notes: *This stasis tank seems to hold one of the aliens encountered at the alien facility in Mexico. The subject appears to be still alive, thanks to the tank itself. Caution in handling this device is advised._

 **XXXXX**

The Commander waited impatiently in her room for the speaker to make contact with the Avenger. Usually he was already waiting on line, but this time he certainly took his time. But she couldn't really blame him. There might be something he was caught up with, hell for all she knew he might be under ADVENT surveillance or worse, caught.

None of this was the case that day. Finally the screen changed from the X-COM logo to the one of the secure channel and then the speaker appeared on the screen.

" **Hello, Commander. I apologize for the delay."**

"I understand." The Commander replied. "Securing a channel from ADVENT must not be an easy task. The mission was a success, though it was more thanks to luck, than to skill." The Commander admitted. She sent the files to the man on the inside, who she could see overviewed everything.

 **"This...is very worrisome information, Commander. It seems our information about the new bio weapon was sadly correct."**

"And it went out of control." The Commander crossed her arms. "These...I don't know what we should call them or what ADVENT calls them, but given the numbers we have seen today...I just hope these things are only within the Mexican border."

" **Indeed. I will further look into this matter and provide you with information as soon as I find some.**

 **There is something I wanted to inform you about. It seems that ADVENT's newest facility, which should have been completed next week was destroyed."**

"Oh?" The Commander raised an eyebrow. "Was it one of our resistance cells?"

" **No, in fact, the reason for this event is unknown. However, it certainly...let's say shocked ADVENT. I have no evidence, but this might have something to do with ADVENT's bioweapon program."**

"Great." The Commander had a hard time not to facepalm. "Now we have even more aliens on the loose. That means even if we defeat ADVENT, we'll still have to deal with whatever they unleashed on us."

" **As I said, there is no concrete evidence as of yet. But I advice you to be careful, commander. And, good luck."**

With those words the Speaker cut the connection to the Avenger. The Commander sighed, turning off the screen. She could feel the headache coming already. The destroyed facility was a great thing, as it would slow down the Avatar Project, but was it really worth the price? Definitely not, that was the Commander's opinion.

"Commander, Firebrand is back." Bradford spoke through the coms.

"Understood. I'm on my way." She replied, standing up and exiting her quarters.

 _Maybe at least we'll get a new recruit out of this._


	2. Chapter 2

The Commander arrived a little late this time, after her travel got delayed because of a defect door. The soldiers were already lined up in the weaponry and she just caught a glimpse of the stasis cell, which contained the alien, before it disappeared behind closed elevator doors.

"Congratulations on the successful mission." The Commander spoke up, eyeing every soldier, including Kerrigan.

"As much as I would love to celebrate this victory, I think you all know that our workload just got doubled."

Some of the troops looked uncomfortable at those words.

"Their teeth went straight through the building." Muttered Lisa, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"We don't know anything about those bugs, aside from that they reproduce faster than Rabbits on Marihuana." The Commander smiled at her own joke. "However that does not mean we should throw the towel. On the contrary! We need to keep going and kill every alien that's stupid enough to get in front of our gun's barrels.

Now before I let you off, there are two, no wait, three things to be addressed. The first being, congratulations Captain Cameron, Sergeant Cawthon and Corporal Krüger."

Kerrigan and Tempson clapped their hands politely to the promotions, the latter muttering something about not getting one.

"Don't be like that Tempson." The Commander smiled. "After all, you earned yourself your nickname, SHOCKER."

SHOCKER sighed at the cheesy nickname and grabbed a Dollar note out of her pockets, holding it high. A second later Cameron snatched it away, sniffing on it like a drug addict.

"Ah, the sweet smell of victory." The man stated, before putting the note away. The Commander smiled wryly, knowing that it was more a gesture than anything else. Practically every currency was useless nowadays. As far as she understood it, in the cities you earned the rights to buy things by working with some kind of point system or other. As for inside the Avenger, everything was strictly rationed, including the alcohol.

"Finally, miss Kerrigan" the Commander addressed the last one in the row who had kept her stoic expression the entire time. "I would like to personally thank you for the intel you granted us, as well as for your support during the mission. Doctor Tygan will examine you in a bit, to see if the didn't crack any of your bones. Afterwards, you're free to go back to the settlement if you would like or you can stay on the Avenger and help us fight the aliens."

"I already decided to help your cause." Stated Kerrigan as a matter of fact. "As much as I would like to stay at the settlement, I can help the people there more out by helping to drive these aliens off the planet."

The Commander nodded approvingly. "Then welcome to X-COM Squaddie Kerrigan. I don't know for what military organization you worked prior to this, but in X-COM, everyone starts from the bottom."

"What makes you think I was in a military organization, Ma'am?" Kerrigan asked.

"Squaddie, I may look young, but I recognize an experienced soldier, when I see one." The woman replied. "Krüger, show her around please. The rest of you are dismissed."

The Commander turned around and walked off. Krüger turned towards Kerrigan, who was looking back at him with a neutral expression.

"Let me just get this stuff off and then I can get you to the barracks."

"Shouldn't I report to this Doctor Tygan?" Asked the newcomer.

"Yes, well" Krüger smiled wryly "Unless you want to be examined on the autopsy table...we're pretty short on everything, including a proper sickbay. We had to improvise, so we repurposed a small quarter as the room, where Tygan can examine everyone. We don't have anyone else on board who knows anything about medical stuff outside of first aid."

"That's...discouraging." The woman commented.

"It is as it is." The German commented dryly. He put off his armor and weapon and hung both on a spot specifically for his gear. "We don't even have the funds for lockers. Guns, ammo food, water...these things are the only stuff we have enough. Though I guess it was hard enough to get these things organized. Alright, this way."

Kerrigan followed Krüger through one of the doors and into a narrow hallway. A few of the other crewmembers walked through the same hallways, half of them carrying one thing or another. They all nodded towards Krüger and Kerrigan, before hurrying to wherever they were needed. After another door, the hallways expanded. The duo passed a pair of huge double doors on their way.

"The bridge." Krüger said. "Officially we can go there, but normally we soldier stay out. We'd only get in the way of the others, anyways."

Kerrigan nodded, but didn't say anything. They remained on the same floor, taking a few turns, until they arrived in a hallway with two rows of doors being on each side.

"Our quarters. Up to 10 people can fill one of them. It's not much, but definitely an improvement to outside. I think the only one who has personal quarters is the Commander."

"Speaking of the Commander, she looks pretty young." Kerrigan commented. "Just out of curiosity, how old is she?"

"I don't know." Krüger shrugged. "But back in the day, she lead the official X-COM, before earth was overrun by the aliens. I heard after Earth surrendered the old HQ was overrun and the Commander captured. We found her not too long ago in an alien stasis tank."

"What?!" Kerrigan exclaimed surprised.

"Why'd they keep her?"

"Well, as it turned out" Krüger's voice became grim "they put something into her brain and connected her to the ADVENT soldiers. I don't know all the details, you'd to ask Tygan for it, but as far as I understand things, they basically used her military knowledge in order to increase the effectiveness of their soldiers."

"I see. Unorthodox, but pretty effective." Kerrigan nodded. "I'm surprised she's not brain dead."

"We all are." A voice with a high accent echoed through the halls. From out of a corner, a black skinned man, wearing glasses and a lab coat came around. He held a tablet in his hands.

"Dr. Richard Tygan." The man introduced himself. "I am the chief scientist and will conduct in your examination, Miss Kerrigan." The man opened a door right next to him, revealing a small room with a bed that had a white sheet strapped over it, as well as some medical equipment inside.

"If you would follow me. Mister Krüger, if you would please wait outside."

"Of course, Doctor. I'll be waiting here."

Kerrigan nodded to her new comrade and followed the doctor inside, who closed the door. Said doctor didn't waste any time with pleasantries and immediately took some kind of tool from the table.

"Something ADVENT "generously lend" me." The doctor explained. "A scanner, which can be used for multiple purposes." He pressed a button, turning the thing on. "Before anything, I'll need to scan your brain. This is standard procedure, as ADVENT has the habit of implanting chips into the brains of everyone, including spies and not suspecting citizens."

"I understand." Kerrigan sat down on the bed.

The doctor held the scanner over Kerrigan's head, blue light shimmering of the device. "We even had a case, where a woman had a tumor implanted into her head, making it possible for ADVENT to track her down." The doctor commented. "Strangely we haven't had any more of these cases. And I can tell, you too have neither a biological nor a metallic tracker in your head."

"Always good to know." Kerrigan said with a smile.

"Now" Tygan pressed a few buttons "you may have escaped relatively fast, but that was still enough time for your bones to be cracked. As small as they may be, it is always smart to rest a few days for the bones to recover. Else they might actually break during a mission. Oh no, you do not have to take off your clothes. This scanner is highly advanced to even work through plated armor."

Kerrigan put her jacket back on.

"Now, please stretch your arms."

She did as she was told to and waited for the doctor to finish his scan. The man also knelt down, in order to scan the legs and feet.

"It seems that you were lucky this time." The doctor said after a throughout scan. He put the scanner back on the table and picked up his tablet, as well as a special pen to "write" on said tablet.

"I just need you to answer some simple questions. For example your blood type."

"Zero."

Tygan frowned. "Then we have a problem. You're the first on the ship with that blood type."

"So that means for me to not get hit. I can managed that." Said Kerrigan with confidence.

"I hope you're right. Next, any severe past diseases?"

"A cold or two." Kerrigan shrugged.

"Gene defects?"

"None as far as I know off."

"Family members with defects?"

"I don't know."

"Allergies?"

"None that I know of."

"Very well."

"That's it?" Kerrigan asked with a raised eyebrow. "No asking of my background or anything?"

"Miss, we have soldiers on board who were on death row prior to the invasion." Tygan replied. "We're hardly in any position to be picky about anything, especially staff members. Aside from you, only the squad with which you were on a mission are on active duty. The rest of our troops are in no condition to fight, unless the Avenger itself would be attacked."

"I see."

"Well then, I need to get back to my research. The Commander demands I finish my research on Magnetic Weapons, before I start with the alien you brought on board."

"Magnetic Weapons huh? But what about the alien? You're not letting it out, are you?"

"Oh no, I will think of something. Now then, I must leave. Farewell Miss Kerrigan."

"Goodbye."

Tygan hurried outside and towards one of the elevators at the very end of the hallway. Truth to be told, he was anxious to start his research on the alien, but with the intel they bought from the black market, it was too good of an opportunity to quickly get the research done. The Commander had said that if they had time to finish their laser weapon project all those years ago, things would have gone differently.

 **XXXXX**

"The Speaker?" Kerrigan asked, as she and Krüger were on another elevator.

"He's a politician who was part of the so called Council. Apparently they supported the original X-COM, until one after another pulled the funding or something. I wasn't around at that time, I was six, when the invasion started. From the sound of things, he basically started organizing the resistance from day one, while working for the aliens as some kind of official."

"Hmm, I see. It explains quite a lot. The organized camps, the communication equipment, weapons, food supplies and so on. He must be very dedicated." Kerrigan commented.

"Yeah, though he often butts heads with the Commander. One time I passed her quarters and I swear, the halls were vibrating at how they were shouting at each other." Krüger shook his head.

"Must have been quite the argument."

"You don't want to know." The man said, pushing a button to open another door.

"Welcome to the bar." Krüger announced, leading the sniper inside. The bar was filled with people sitting at the counter or watching the small TV. Apparently someone adjusted an old looking console machine to it and now they were watching some kind of movie about talking animals. Kerrigan also noticed a wall on which a few photographs were attached.

"Our way of honor our fallen." Krüger explained.

"Sup' fresh meat!" A voice called out. Kerrigan turned her head away from the wall and towards the man who was standing behind the counter, drying a glass. "Want something to drink? First time's on my ration count."

"And you're?" Kerrigan asked, placing herself on a free chair, Krüger sitting down next to her.

"Just call me Eddy CRASHER Krüger. No it's not my real name and I don't care." The man says with a smile.

"CRASHER?" Kerrigan inquired.

"Hey Ed! Gimme another one!" A soldier cold.

"Yeah, gimme a sec! Look around, a little. I'll be back."

Eddy turned around and took a few bottles out of the shelve as well as a mixer.

"He doesn't look like a soldier." Kerrigan commented. This Eddy was way too skinny, all bones, no meat, as they said.

"He's not."

"Huh, I didn't know none-soldiers could get nicknames."

Krüger smiled amused. "Ed over there is a special case. We were on a rescue mission and pinned down by ADVENT soldiers. We had real trouble, since we only had so much time to get out. Suddenly, out of nowhere we see this car driving down the road pretty fast. Before ADVENT knew it, Eddy had driven over two soldiers and pressed two between his car and a building. The idiot then comes out, dazed and bleeding badly, with two soldiers still alive. They almost shot him."

Kerrigan didn't suppress a chuckle. "I can pretty much guess where the name CRASHER comes from."

"Yeah, but thanks to him we made it out. Oh man, excuse me, need to go somewhere." Krüger got up from his seat and walked towards a door labeled: "WC". It was then that CRASHER came back to Kerrigan.

"So, decided?"

"Not really." She admitted.

"Well, no rush." Eddy shrugged. "Heard Max telling you how I got my four kills." He picked up a glass from the sink and started drying it.

"Must have been quite the experience."

"Don't remember too much of it." The bartender looked up. "I'm just glad the Commander didn't kick me out of the ship, after I was patched up, although it was pretty close."

"Why is that?" Asked the sniper.

"Eh, I'm pretty much useless to X-COM. I can't shoot without breaking my bones, I don't have any idea about science or technology, normally someone like me ends up in one of the camps."

"Hmm. So how did you convince the Commander?" Asked the woman, now a little curious.

The bartender smiled wryly. "I took on the dirty work. You know, cleaning the toilets, running the bar, keeping inventory of our food supplies, cooking, when we actually have something that's not instant food...and a few other things no one wants to do."

"That's a lot for one person." Kerrigan commented.

"Oh believe me, it's safer here than in the settlements. Yeah, there're many things I could do in one of those, but honestly? ADVENT has started raiding them. X-COM can only answer shortly before their ships arrive and before we get there, a lot of people are already dead." He said grimly. "We relocate them of course, but ADVENT is persistent on going after those."

"So you'd rather hide than fight?" Kerrigan asked with narrowed eyes.

"Guilty as charged." The man said without a care in the world.

"Hmph." the woman noticed a small menu card and decided to have a look at it.

 **XXXXX**

In the meantime, the Commander was inside the proving ground with Shen and Abd Allah, an arabic engineer. They just presented their latest work to the Commander.

"The acid grenades don't have the explosive power of a regular grenade, but the acid inside them will melt off any armor and is even worse on skin." Shen explained, gesturing to Abd Allah' bandaged hand.

The Commander nodded, looking at the engineer apologetically. "Sorry that happened. We should increase the security measures, so something like this won't happen again. Get yourself something to drink. On my tap." The Commander quickly wrote something on a small piece of paper and handed it over to the engineer, who nodded approvingly, before leaving.

"Commander, now that this is done, I suggest we should start with the Skulljack project."

"And I told you we can't afford the few supplies we have left." The Commander retorted sharply. "I agree, it is important to get this project done, but in my opinion we should at least get on paar with ADVENT, at least when it comes to our guns."

"But our troops are handling themselves pretty well." Shen retorted.

"And pretty well is not enough in my books." The Commander growled. "¾ of our troops are injured. Knowing the aliens, the more victories we achieve, the stronger the enemies will be in the future. Heck, I'm surprised we haven't seen a Muton as of yet or even a Cyberdisc."

"Cyberdisc, Commander?" Shen asked.

"Huge UFO shaped Discs. Hard to hit and heavily weaponized. We managed to take out two before the war ended. One time being pure luck."

The Commander turned around and headed towards the door. Underneath the doorframe, she halted. "Give me the magnetic weapons and then you can start with the Skulljack." Having everything said, she left the room. Shen could only sigh disappointment.

The Commander in the meantime took the elevator all the way down to the laboratories. She found Tygan and his small science team, compared to the original X-COM's, standing in front of a screen. It showed the model of an ADVENT gun, as well as a similar model right next to it.

"Ah, Commander. How may I help you?"

"Just looking how you're progressing. Schematics?"

"Yes, well." Tygan moved in front of the screen.

"On the left side, you can see a standard ADVENT magnetic rifle. We want to see if we can somehow improve the design somehow, as well as alternative designs for our heavy weapons, sniper rifles and shotguns. So far we only have a design for the pistols and standard rifles. I am afraid for the other versions, we will need additional research time.

The Commander put a hand under her chin, thinking. "Finish the rifles and pistols. Our supplies are too short for more than that at the moment anyway. When you're done, you can start with that thing over there."

She pointed at the stasis tank, which was secured and adjusted to the wall in the corner of the lab. "Though, before you do anything, wait until I send some troops down. Just in case you wake this thing up accidentally."

"Understood Commander. Farewell."

"Farewell. And remember to take some actual breaks. That goes for all of you." She addressed the other two scientists, before heading out and towards the bridge.

"Commander on bridge." One of the men announced, causing the others to stop in whatever they were doing and saluting to her. The woman just waved them off, a silent signal for them to return to work. She leaned over the holographic table and looked at their options.

"Commander, we have started the evacuation of the settlement." Bradford zoomed in on the map, showing a very detailed map of Mexico. A blue house showed the settlement. Additional three grey houses appeared on three different locations.

"Based on the movements of those bug things, we have established three different location for the new settlement."

The Commander pointed at the one the farthest away. "Send the Skyranger to help them with carrying heavy equipment. How long do you think this will take."

"At least three days, maybe four." Bradford frowned. "We'll have to avoid the roads of course and if the weather doesn't play in our favor, I'd say we have to add a fifth day."

"Hmm...well, beggers can't be choosers. Speaking of those bugs, did our scanners pick up something?"

"There was one time." Bradford replied, moving the map further north. "Our sensors picked up some movement here, before disappearing just like that. I talked to Shen to readjust our scanners to their bio signatures, but she couldn't tell if this was even possible. Sadly, the aliens didn't leave a dictionary, when they "gave" us their ship."

"How annoying." The Commander commented. "Maybe Tygan should scan my brain again. Could be that the aliens left a dictionary there." The woman smiled at her own bad joke.

"Nothing can surprise me anymore." Bradford stated. "On another note, we have new volunteers at the HQ. Some of them seem to be highly experienced…"

 **XXXXXX**

"...and this is your bunk." Krüger motioned at the small bed. Without another word, Kerrigan dumped her stuff on the bed.

"Outside from you and me, we share this room with the squad you have seen today, Abd Allah, one of our engineers and Lucas Brown, one of our scientists. I guess the rest is in the Main Room, as e call it. It's basically the biggest barracks room. Speaking off, wanna play some poker?"

"Maybe later. Is there a training room by any chance?" The sniper woman asked.

"Yeah, we have the Guerilla Tactics School, which also serves as the gym. What, you want to train?"

"No, just asking." Kerrigan replied. "What about showers?"

"Right next to the gym. That reminds me, I still have to get you some toiletries." The man scratched the back of his head. "Luckily it's on the way. I can show you to the showers and then we'll be done with the tour."

The two walked outside once again. "Do you need any help navigating through the ship?"

"No, I have a very good memory."

"Suit yourself." Krüger shrugged. "Though don't blame me, if you get lost. This ship is a maze."

 **A/N: I normally don't get or use the Skulljack until I have at least Magnetic Weapons. Often enough, I don't even have the supplies to build one. Random comment of the day: on my latest playthrough, I lost my entire squad on the second mission, however else the campaign is going very well.**


End file.
